Since the NHS was founded on 5 July 1948 there have been huge changes in the way we think about mental health and learning disability – and in how we support people. Take a look at some of the key milestones and developments over the last 70 years and how they have affected what we do in Devon.
There are 58,850 people with learning difficulties in NHS hospitals.
There are 107 hospitals for mentally unwell people in the UK, each with at least 200 inpatients.
Suicide Act 1961 decriminalises the act of suicide in England and Wales, meanting those who failed in the attempt to take their own life will no longer be prosecuted.
Enoch Powell Water Tower speech. Enoch Powell, Minister of Health, gives a ground-breaking speech on mental health, signalling the end of asylums.